1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to semiconductor products manufacturing, and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for correcting species for semiconductor manufacturing processes by monitoring state parameters.
2. Description of Related Art
The technology explosion in the manufacturing industry has resulted in many new and innovative manufacturing processes. Today""s manufacturing processes, particularly semiconductor manufacturing processes, call for a large number of important steps. These process steps are usually vital, and therefore, require a number of inputs that are generally fine-tuned to maintain proper manufacturing control.
The manufacture of semiconductor devices requires a number of discrete process steps to create a packaged semiconductor device from raw semiconductor material. The various processes, from the initial growth of the semiconductor material, the slicing of the semiconductor crystal into individual wafers, the fabrication stages (etching, doping, ion implanting, or the like), to the packaging and final testing of the completed device, are so different from one another and specialized that the processes may be performed in different manufacturing locations that contain different control schemes.
Among the important control aspects in semiconductor device manufacturing are implant process control, rapid thermal anneal (RTA) control, chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) control, and overlay control. Overlay is one of several important steps in the photolithography area of semiconductor manufacturing. Overlay control involves measuring the misalignment between two successive patterned layers on the surface of a semiconductor device. Generally, minimization of misalignment errors is important to ensure that the multiple layers of the semiconductor devices are connected and functional. As technology facilitates smaller critical dimensions for semiconductor devices, the need for reduction of misalignment errors increases dramatically.
Generally, photolithography and implant process engineers currently analyze errors a few times a month. The results from the analysis of the errors are used to make updates to processing tool settings manually. Technical personnel who are responsible for overseeing implant processes generally make modification to a process tool, load a process recipe into the process tool, and check control parameters that are defined by the process recipe. Generally, a manufacturing model is employed to control the manufacturing processes. Some of the problems associated with the current methods include the fact that the aforementioned steps can be compromised by errors that can occur in each of the steps. Furthermore, currently the implant process tools and exposure tool updates are performed manually or semi-automatically. Many times, errors in semiconductor manufacturing are not organized and reported to quality control personnel. Often, the manufacturing models themselves incur bias errors that could compromise manufacturing quality.
Generally, a set of processing steps is performed on a lot of wafers on a semiconductor manufacturing tool called an implant tool. The manufacturing tool communicates with a manufacturing framework or a network of processing modules. The manufacturing tool is generally connected to an equipment interface. The equipment interface is connected to a machine interface to which the implanter is connected, thereby facilitating communications between the implant tool and the manufacturing framework. The machine interface can generally be part of an advanced process control (APC) system. The APC system initiates a control script based upon a manufacturing model, which can be a software program that automatically retrieves the data needed to execute a manufacturing process. Often, semiconductor devices are staged through multiple manufacturing tools for multiple processes, generating data relating to the quality of the processed semiconductor devices. Many times, errors in semiconductor manufacturing are not organized and reported to quality control personnel, which can result in reduced efficiency in manufacturing processes. Errors in manufacturing model, errors in the recipe, errors in the tool setup, such as species, or mismatch of recipe to process tool can cause poor manufacturing results.
The present invention is directed to overcoming, or at least reducing the effects of, one or more of the problems set forth above.
In one aspect of the present invention, a method is provided for implementing corrected species by monitoring state parameters in a manufacturing process. A process run of semiconductor devices is performed. Production data relating to the process run of semiconductor devices is acquired. The acquired production data is stored into a production database. A recipe management analysis is performed.
In another aspect of the present invention, an apparatus is provided for implementing corrected species by monitoring state parameters in a manufacturing process. The apparatus of the present invention comprises: a recipe management system; a first machine interface connected to said recipe management system; a processing tool connected to said first machine interface; and a fault detection system connected to said first machine interface.